Zeng Guofan was born in the 16th year of Jiaqing (18 1 1) in a wealthy landlord family in Heyetang, Jingzi Town, Shuangfeng County, Hunan Province. There are nine brothers and sisters, Zeng Guofan is the eldest son. The ancestors were mainly farmers, and their lives were relatively affluent. Grandpa Zeng Yuping's education is not high, but he has rich experience; Father Zeng Linshu is a scholar, and Zeng Guofan, the eldest son and grandson, was naturally educated by two ancestors.
Zeng Guofan entered school at the age of 6, read eight-part essay and recited five classics at the age of 8, read Zhou Li and Selected Works of Historical Records at the age of 14, and took part in the boy test in Changsha. His excellent grades are listed as excellent, which shows that he has been smart and diligent since he was a child. In the 12th year of Daoguang (1832), he was admitted as a scholar and married Ouyang Cangming's daughter.
Zeng Guofan was admitted to Jinshi at the age of 28. From then on, he stepped onto the road of official career step by step, and became the right-hand man of Zhang Mu, Minister of Military Aircraft. After more than ten years in Beijing, he successively served as imperial academy Jishi Shu, transferred to school, gave lectures, served as Wen Yuan Pavilion, served as a cabinet bachelor, inspected Chinese book affairs, served as assistant minister of Ministry of War, assistant minister of Ministry of Industry, assistant minister of punishments and assistant minister of official department. Zeng Guofan was promoted to the second-class position step by step along this career path. Moving seven times in ten years, jumping ten times in a row, jumping from seven products to two products,
Zeng Guofan wrote a lot in his life, but his letters from home were the most widely circulated and had the greatest influence. In the fifth year of Guangxu (1879), that is, seven years after Zeng Guofan's death, Nakagawa Bookstore carved Zeng Gong's letter edited by Li and Li Hongzhang.
Zeng Guofan himself was also good at employing people, and other famous ministers in Qing Dynasty, such as Zuo and Li Hongzhang, were closely related to him. Zuo and Li Hongzhang called Zeng Guofan a teacher. Zeng Guofan once said, "Li Shaoquan tried his best to be an official, and Yu (Yu Yue) tried his best to write a book".
After the failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Taiping Army joined the Nian Army in the rest of Jiangbei, and the Qing court ordered Zeng Guofan to supervise the military affairs of Zhili, Shandong and Henan provinces. Zeng Guofan led 20,000 Xiang troops and 60,000 Huai troops, equipped with foreign guns and guns, and "suppressed twists" in the north. His policy was to "suppress hard rather than pursue hard" and put forward plans such as "key fortification" in an attempt to block the Nian army in the canal and Shahe area, so that it had nowhere to escape and was eliminated. However, the Nian Army broke through Zeng Guofan's defense line and entered Shandong, which bankrupt Zeng Guofan's strategic plan. Zeng Guofan was removed from office and replaced by Li Hongzhang.
He died in Nanjing on February 4th, 11th year of Tongzhi (Gregorian calendar:1March 20th, 872). The court gave a teacher a gift, and he was named "Zheng Wen" after his death. There are many officials in the descendants of his family, such as Ceng Jize.
Zeng Guofan's evaluation
Liang Qichao admired the Zeng family and said, "I called for a collection, and I can't wait three days to reply." Liang refers to Zeng Guofan in the preface of Zeng Gong Chao. "Is it only built by modern people who have never seen it before?" Not only in China, but also in the world. However, Wen is not an unparalleled genius. He is called the slowest of all sages. His suffering will also be the middle of his life; Those who are immortal in virtue, who have made contributions and made great achievements are determined to be refined, but they are trapped in it, knowing what they have done, but going forward bravely, going through all kinds of difficulties and obstacles without setbacks, not seeking immediate results, accumulating inch by inch, accepting vanity, being diligent, steadfast, sincere, handsome, brave and diligent.
Just like Zhang's evaluation of Zeng Guofan in the Revolution of 1911, in the past hundred years, different people have different views, including those who praised Zeng Guofan and those who scolded him. As early as when Zeng Guofan suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, some people accused him of killing too many people and gave him a nickname "Zeng shaved his head". By 1870, many people called him a traitor, so much so that Zeng Guofan felt that he was "blaming the gods inside and blaming the gods outside" and even had the fear of being besieged on all sides. After the Revolution of 1911, some revolutionaries said that he was "the first person to enforce the law on the spot" and a traitor with a long history. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, historians even scolded him to the end, denouncing him as a guardian of the feudal landlord class, a spiritual idol of the landlord and comprador class, a traitor, a traitor, a murderer without blinking an eye, and so on, completely denying him. Since 1980, the academic research on Zeng Guofan has gradually deepened, and his evaluation is relatively objective.
Mao Zedong and Jiang Zhongzheng are two famous figures in the modern history of China. They spoke highly of Zeng Guofan. When I was young, I devoted myself to studying Zeng's collected works and came to the conclusion that I was "stupid enough to be close to people and only serve". Even after ten thousand years in Mao Zedong, he once said: Zeng Guofan is the most powerful figure in the landlord class. Chiang Kai-shek paid homage to the Zeng family and thought that Zeng Guofan's lifestyle was "enough for our teachers." He taught the Quotations of Zeng Hubing as a textbook to senior generals, and put the Complete Works of Zeng Wen and Gong Zheng beside the case, and read it all his life. It is said that the way he called the roll and sat in a healthy way all imitated Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan's personal charm is evident.
In the same year of Xianfeng, Zeng Guofan's performance in foreign activities, such as "borrowing foreign countries to help suppress", transporting foreign merchants to South Cao, sending people to buy American planes to set up Jiangnan Machinery Bureau, and handling Tianjin religious plan, pointed out that when domestic troubles and foreign invasion were serious and most scholars were addicted to the textual research of righteousness, Zeng Guofan was able to independently conform to the trend of the times, grasp the times, absorb the essence of China traditional culture, and inherit and carry forward the practical application of Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan.